Battle

On the morning of the 10th, after 18 hours of deep rest, Hizashi Hyuga was the first to wake up. An unprecedented sense of fulfillment instantly filled his mind, as if a dried-up riverbed had been filled with clear spring water. He felt that his Byakugan seemed to have been greatly enhanced.

Suppressing his doubts, Hizashi decisively activated his Byakugan, gazing into the distance. As his Chakra was depleted, his field of vision continued to widen.

3 kilometers.

4 kilometers.

5 kilometers.

The view continued to expand, eventually settling steadily at the 6-kilometer mark!

At this moment, the commotion Hizashi also alerted the bystanders. When they saw him suddenly activate his Byakugan, they all assumed that an enemy was attacking and picked up their weapons to be on guard.

But then he saw the happy look on the Hizashi's face and realized that wasn't the case.

Only after Hizashi closed his Byakugan did Hatake Sakumo ask the question that had been bothering everyone, "Hizashi, what just happened? You startled everyone."

"Sorry, sorry, I was just too excited." Hizashi suppressed his joy and continued to explain, "I just tested my Byakugan and found that after this incident, my Byakugan's field of vision has expanded by 1 kilometer."

"What?" A glint flashed in Sakumo's eyes, then replaced by immense joy. "Excellent! This is like sending charcoal in snowy weather; it will be of immense help to our upcoming mission."

This news was like a shot in the arm, instantly dispelling the tense atmosphere before the mission. Everyone's faces lit up with excitement, after all, finding the enemy was the key to the next mission.

Riding this wave of momentum, Sakumo explained the plan that everyone had discussed the night before to Hizashi. After confirming that everything was in order, the team did not delay any longer and immediately set off for the section of road marked on the scroll. Hizashi then activated his Byakugan and searched for any trace of the Sunagakure delegation.

The Land of Birds is a hilly country. Although it is located on the border between two countries, the hilly terrain is already beginning to take shape. The rolling hills perfectly conceal the people hiding in the depressions.

With glaring Byakugan observing from afar and hills obstructing the view nearby, this made it a perfect ambush point for the Sakumo squad.

Once the Sakumo team arrived at the pre-arranged route, the four members quickly dispersed to check the surrounding environment. Fortunately, the increased Byakugan from the Hizashi allowed them to completely cover the area.

This avoids the predicament of the squad having to patrol back and forth due to insufficient visibility, and completely eliminates the opportunity for the Sunagakure delegation to take advantage of the squad's blind spots.

Following Byakugan's Scout, Hizashi led his team to a small hill in the middle of the road where they could hide, allowing them to monitor the entire route without moving.

In order to preserve their fighting strength, Hizashi was required to activate his Byakugan only every 5 minutes to check if the delegation had arrived.

And so, after waiting for more than an hour, the Hizashi once again opened his Byakugan in the direction of the Land of Wind, and a group of five people appeared in his field of vision.

As the Chakra was injected more, his vision quickly became clear. He saw five people wearing hooded cloaks, which looked like the windproof cloaks from the Land of Wind. The five people were in a hurry, and even after leaving the sandy environment, they did not take off their hoods.

"Five ninjas are approaching from the 10 o'clock position, 5 kilometers away," Hizashi reported his observations to the others.

Upon hearing this, the team members immediately perked up. Some drew their swords, others took Kunai, and they all began preparing for battle. Three pairs of eyes were fixed on Hizashi, waiting for his final confirmation.

As the Chakra injection continued to increase, the Chakra meridians on the five people gradually became visible, and then their entire bodies were enveloped in Chakra light.

"Wait, something's not right." Hizashi suddenly spoke up, interrupting the eager group, "Their Chakra is off, it's too little!"

The group of people were all taken aback, none of them understanding what the Hizashi was trying to say.

"These people all only have the Chakra Quantity of Chunin; there aren't any Jonin among them."

These words were a wake-up call; they had almost fallen into the Sunagakure's trap. It must have been the pair of ninjas they had killed yesterday. Although they had dealt with the situation very cleanly, the fact that one of them was missing had alerted them.

However, judging from the current situation, their alliance plan remains unchanged; they are simply more cautious in their actions.

Hizashi, Minato, Taiichi all turned their gazes toward Hatake Sakumo, awaiting his command.

"Let them pass, we'll continue to wait." Hatake Sakumo, displaying the responsibility of Captain, made the decision.

It's important to understand that if this group of ninjas were just Jonin deliberately maintaining the Chakra Quantity of Chunin by consuming their own Chakra, then this decision would have missed the real target.

Although the possibility is slim, this is the time to test the Captain's decisiveness and courage.

Following Sakumo's decision, Minato and Taiichi also put away their weapons. The pair of ninjas, under the Byakugan's surveillance, passed by the squad 3 kilometers to the side and gradually disappeared from the Byakugan's detection range.

However, before Hizashi retract his Byakugan, another group of ninjas appeared in Byakugan field of vision. This time, Hizashi was more experienced and immediately increased his Chakra output. Soon, more specific details appeared in Hizashi's eyes.

"This time it should be correct. There are three ninjas with Chakra Quantity reaching Jonin level, and two more with Chakra Quantity reaching Chunin level."

Sure enough, the team ahead was the scouts. If they had attacked them, they would have been discovered by the real delegation following closely behind in such a short time.

Then this mission is definitely going to end in failure. If the situation is serious, it may even provoke a united front between Sunagakure and Iwagakure, and the Third Shinobi World War might break out prematurely.

"Good job, Hizashi. Now take us to the front of them, let's give them a surprise!"

Upon hearing Hatake Sakumo's instructions, everyone's spirits soared. Following the hilly terrain, they wound their way to the front of the delegation. Under Byakugan's guidance, they continuously adjusted their relative positions to the delegation in order to achieve the best surprise attack.

Finally, when the two sides were separated by a small hill less than 10 meters high, everyone took out Antidote Pill at Taiichi's prompting and put them in their mouths without hesitation. Although they did not chew them, the strong taste of the Yakumi still made their faces contort in pain.

However, being determined ninjas, they quickly suppressed their discomfort and climbed the hill before the enemy left.

Although the winter sun was not intense, on this pre-arranged battlefield, as Sakumo's team reached the summit, their shadows, lengthened by the sunlight, were cast upon the Sunagakure delegation.

The group of Rousha instinctively looked up, only to be blinded by the Sun Barrier. At that moment, Taiichi and his companions launched a surprise attack, their Shuriken and Kunai.

The Sunagakure members, being experienced individuals, remained calm despite being ambushed. While dodging Kunai and Shuriken, they also popped a pill into their mouths.

Taiichi witnessed their actions and, based on his own deductions, promptly warned, "Be careful, they might use poison!"

Before he could finish speaking, Rousha waved his hand and scattered several purple pellets in all directions.

A series of loud bangs followed.

Thick purple poisonous smoke had already covered the entire area, just when the Sunagakure members thought they could finally get a chance to regroup.

A scream rang out beside them.

"That direction is Wada!"

Rousha was furious. How could it be so fast? And were they all crazy, rushing into the poisonous smoke like that?

The instant the poisonous smoke rose, Minato had already used the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport next to a Chunin. Due to the vast difference in strength, the Chunin didn't even have time to react before Minato slit his throat.

At this moment, Sakumo, Hizashi, and Taiichi also rushed into the poisonous smoke without hesitation and fought against their respective chosen opponents.

Now the Sand Village Ninja were completely bewildered. They had taken an antidote, and the poisonous smoke was meant to protect them, but they hadn't expected these ninjas to be so reckless, rushing right in.

As the two sides clashed, the Sand Village Ninja realized that the poison smoke was ineffective against them, and even less effective against their enemies. On the contrary, the smoke's concealment made them feel restricted in their fighting.

Just then, a gust of wind swept by. It turned out to be the Sunagakure ninja named Kazekiri who, during the battle, had taken a break to create a gust of wind that dispersed the poisonous smoke filling the sky.

The scene was cleared up, and the situation of the battle was immediately apparent. In less than a minute of fighting, the overall situation had changed dramatically.

Hatake Sakumo faced off against Rousha. At this moment, he was entangled by three Puppet, and many Puppet parts were scattered around his feet.

Minato Namikaze against Kazekiri. One was fast and constantly engaged in close combat, while the other was skilled in Wind Style and used ranged attacks from a distance.

Hizashi Hyuga against a swordsman ninja. Although fighting with bare hands against weapons was a slight disadvantage, Hyuga's Gentle Fist was renowned throughout the Ninja World, so it must have its unique strengths. At this moment, Hizashi had already taken advantage of his agility in unarmed combat to entangle the swordsman ninja in close combat, giving the opponent no chance to use his swordsmanship.

On Taiichi's side, the moment the poisonous smoke dissipated, he had already plunged his Short Sword into the heart of the Chunin. Ignoring the Chunin's struggles and convulsions, Taiichi slowly pulled out the Short Sword, his gaze already fixed on the swordsmanship ninja who was fighting Hizashi.

Perhaps it was Taiichi's gaze that was too aggressive, or perhaps it was the fear he felt from witnessing the deaths of his two companions that caused his swordsmanship, which had been quite disciplined, to appear somewhat chaotic at this moment.

There is great terror in the face of life and death, and even highly skilled ninjas cannot escape this saying.

As Taiichi drew closer, the swordsman ninja was clearly under increasing psychological pressure. The Byakugan ninja in front of him had already forced him to defend himself; if this brat with a sword were to join the fray...

The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became; the more frightened he became, the more he thought about it. Under the pressure of death, this once calm ninja had completely lost his composure.

As soon as he reached the optimal attack range, Taiichi, wielding the sword, Body Flicker closed in and slashed down with his Short Sword without any mercy.

"Bang!"

The sturdy round shield blocked Taiichi's slash.

A four-armed, two-legged humanoid Puppet arrived at the last second, its round shield positioned between the blade and the ninja, leaving only centimeters between them. Its other three hands were each equipped with a blade, and it began to thrust at Taiichi like a three-sword style swordsman.

The rapid, continuous thrusts forced Taiichi to retreat. Facing Puppet for the first time, he was momentarily overwhelmed by it.

He glanced sideways at the battlefield on Sakumo's side and found that there were still three Puppet entangled with him. It turned out that Rousha had been holding back his strength.

That makes sense, though. After all, Rousha is the second-best Puppet Master in Sunagakure. If he can only control so Chiyo Puppet, it is indeed a bit disappointing.

The Puppet before Taiichi, though fierce in its attacks, relied on surprise. Now that Taiichi had become familiar with its attack rhythm, he immediately unleashed his Blade Momentum, skillfully deflecting Short Sword Puppet's thrusts and easily severing its relatively weak joints.

In an instant, the four-armed Puppet had turned into a human stick.

But it wasn't over yet. Suddenly, the Puppet opened its mouth wide, and dozens of Senbon shot towards Taiichi like a rain of pear blossoms. Meanwhile, the severed arm that had just been knocked away regained its momentum and launched a sneak attack from behind.

Faced with such a pincer attack, Taiichi remained calm. The Short Sword in his hand suddenly hummed, and surging wind-attribute Chakra spread wildly in all directions from the Short Sword as the center. This was a sword technique that Taiichi had developed to scatter Fire Style, but he never expected to use it here.

Taiichi then used his right foot as the center and spun wildly with the power of the wind, instantly forming a protective wall around his body composed of sword light and wind field.

A few crisp "clinking" sounds rang out.

The incoming Senbon and sword arms were either cleaved away by the sword light or scattered by the gale. When the attack ended, Taiichi appeared in the same spot unharmed, but the ground around his body looked as if it had been plowed, with sword marks everywhere.

The commotion also attracted the attention of Hizashi nearby. When he saw Taiichi being attacked from both sides, he almost couldn't help but abandon his current opponent and rush to help. However, when he saw Taiichi's move to resolve the crisis, he was amazed - how come it looks so much like their family's Rotation?

Having learned from his previous experience, Taiichi faced the Puppet again. Taiichi transferred the sword to his left hand, used the Body Flicker Technique to get close, and then punched the Puppet in the chest with his right hand.

Instantly, the Puppet, which had been somewhat humanoid, turned into countless fragments flying everywhere. Now, it was not only uncontrollable, but there wasn't even a single intact part left.

The violent impact instantly awakened the memories of the Rousha.

"It's Tsunade's Chakra Enhanced Strength. What's the relationship between this brat and that woman?"

However, no one gave him an answer. After dealing with the Puppet, Taiichi didn't stop and used his momentum to directly confront the battle group of Hizashi. Now, the swordsmanship ninjas who had just witnessed Taiichi's methods were even more helpless.

Faced with Taiichi's incoming fist, even though he was nearly struck on Hizashi, he had to withdraw his sword to defend. But that was exactly the effect Taiichi wanted. The moment he withdrew his sword, the swordsman ninja, with his defenses wide open, had no hope of Rotation.

Hizashi swiftly struck several vital acupoints on the ninja's body, and what followed was a relentless barrage of pressure point attacks. At this moment, Taiichi Feint and quickly withdrew his hand, turning away. This ninja was already doomed and no longer needed his attention.

He immediately charged towards his primary target, the Rousha. The reason was simple: Taiichi had discovered that Chakra Enhanced Strength was practically cheating against Puppet. No matter how good Puppet was, if struck by Chakra Enhanced Strength, it would instantly crumble into pieces, leaving no chance of reuse.

Puppet isn't a real person; there's a layer of control involved. No matter how sophisticated the manipulation, it will always be a tiny bit slower than a real person. And in battle, that tiny difference can be the key to victory or defeat.